Top 7 Benefits of Fish Oil

When it comes to taking vitamins to supplement your nutritional needs, it can be quite tricky to navigate around which ones you actually need to take and which ones you probably get enough of through your diet alone. Then there are the supplements that you may think you need, but that could actually be doing more harm than good when your body receives too much of it. Not to mention all the supplements that the health industry tells you to take to achieve the body of your dreams. It gets confusing quickly, trying to discern what’s what! However, if there’s one vitamin that everyone can benefit from taking, it’s fish oil. This little vitamin is crammed with benefits for your body.

Here are seven of the biggest benefits you get from taking fish oil:

It’s packed with healthy fats

Fats have gotten such a bad reputation for contributing to obesity that it’s easy to forget that our bodies do in fact need healthy fats to function optimally. Fish oil supplements are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential to our health. Our bodies don’t naturally produce these fatty acids, so to obtain them we have to get them from outside sources like fish oil supplements.

It has anti-inflammatory properties

The omega-3 fatty acids that are found in fish oil supplements don’t just supply our bodies with necessary healthy fats; they also pull double duty and help reduce inflammation throughout our bodies. Fish oil helps reduce arthritis and other joint inflammation symptoms and relieve painful or uncomfortable gastrointestinal problems.

It helps your heart stay healthy

Keeping your heart healthy is pretty important if you want to live a long life, and fish oil helps keep it running in tip-top shape. The omega-3s have been shown to help boost HDL (good cholesterol) levels and reduce LDL (bad cholesterol) levels, as well as lower your risk of contracting any heart diseases and blood pressure.

Reducing feelings of depression

The omega-3s found in fish oil also help fight against feelings of depression and have been known to alleviate the disease as well. They also have proven to be quite effective at combatting depression when paired with anti-depressants, helping to boost the anti-depressants effectiveness.

It aids in weight loss

It sounds like a contradiction, pumping your body full of healthy fats to lose weight, but the reality is that the fatty acids found in fish oil help you along your weight loss journey. These fatty acids aren’t the type of fat that sticks to your frame; instead, they’re converted to energy and used to help your body function. And because they also help reduce inflammation in your body, they help you bounce back from tough workouts more quickly.

It improves your memory function

The Docosahexaenoic Acid (or DHA) found in fish oil is an essential fatty acid that has been shown to help improve brain function and increase memory retention. It also has been shown to help decrease the symptoms of ADD or ADHD and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly.

It enhances your skin and complexion

Regularly taking fish oil supplements also helps you achieve a glowing complexion and clear, healthy skin. The healthy fats found in fish oil helps your skin retain moisture, reduce inflammation from skin diseases such as psoriasis and eczema, and combat acne breakouts.

These are just some of the benefits that you get from regularly taking fish oil supplements. Fish oil has also been shown to help defend your body against cancer and diabetes, aid women during pregnancy by contributing to the development of the baby and fighting against premature births, and improve your body’s immune system, to name a few other benefits. As always you should talk to a healthcare professional before taking any supplements to determine the dosage that is right for you.